Gun range prohibits police after city considers ban

Gun owners crowd a Jan. 7, 2013, Burlington, Vt., City Council meeting at City Hall. Those opposed to the creation of an assault-weapons ban in the city dominated the public comment portion of the meeting, saying that a ban would do nothing to protect the public.(Photo: Ryan Mercer, The Burlington (Vt.) Free Press)

Story Highlights

BURLINGTON, Vt. -- A rural Vermont firing range has told the police department in Burlington that its officers are unwelcome to train at the facility because the City Council has advanced a measure to ban semi-automatic rifles and large-capacity magazines in the state's largest city.

The City Council's action earlier this month threatens constitutional freedoms, Robert Boivin II, board chairman of the Lamoille Valley Fish and Game Club Inc., wrote in a letter to police department, city and state leaders terminating use of the gun range by Burlington police.

The firing range is in Morrisville, about 50 miles northeast of Burlington. The city of 42,000 residents has a police force of just less than 100 officers.

The club's executive board "can no longer support the City of Burlington with such a prejudice against our club and its members, and has voted to suspend the City's use of our range for its law enforcement. This action is effective immediately," Boivin wrote in the letter, dated Tuesday. It was provided Wednesday to The Burlington Free Press.

"We hope that the council reconsiders its actions and redirects its efforts towards perpetrators of violent crimes and security issues," Boivin wrote.

The city's exclusion from the range likely would affect how and when officers train with firearms, Burlington Police Chief Michael Schirling told the Free Press on Wednesday night.

"Training facilities are limited in the area," Schirling said. "It's unfortunate that a polarized discussion of this nature has this kind of impact."

The City Council voted 10-3 earlier this month to direct its Charter Change Committee to craft a ban on assault-type firearms and large-capacity magazines. The meeting was marked by a high turnout by the public, virtually all of whom were opposed to such a ban.

Council President Joan Shannon, a Democrat, has said the measure would reach voters no earlier than March 2014 — and, if approved, would next require the OK of the Vermont Legislature before becoming law. The measure's supporters say the ban is necessary in lieu of meaningful state and national regulations restricting access to such weapons. Opponents say the ban would do little to prevent violence and treads on the rights of law-abiding gun owners.

Messages left for Shannon and Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger were not immediately returned Wednesday evening.